1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the exercise of supervisory control over the movement of containers in a kegging facility and, particularly, to the routing of kegs in a multi-station plant as a function of tests and/or inspections performed at or immediately downstream of various of the stations. More specifically, this invention is directed to an intelligent controlled conveyor system for a multi-station kegging facility and, especially, a conveyor system which transports, recirculates and ejects kegs in accordance with conditions observed or monitored at various locations along a production line on which the kegs are readied for processing, cleaned and filled. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While not limited thereto in its utility, the present invention is particularly well suited for use in connection with the "kegging" of beverages, especially beer, in reusable barrel like kegs. It is common practice in the beverage industry to employ fully automated production facilities wherein empty kegs are cleaned, usually in a multi-step process, and then filled. In such automated production facilities, the kegs are serially treated at several stations, i.e., are manipulated by a number of machines arranged one after the other, located along a transport path, i.e., the production line. The individual cleaning and filling stations are interlinked by conveyor paths, which may be defined by belts, on which the kegs are conveyed.
As is normal practice in the food industry, the containers in which beverages are distributed must meet strict requirements for cleanliness and both the quality and quantity of the product placed in the container must be strictly controlled. Accordingly, the machinery treating the keg at various points along a kegging line, conduct tests and/or examinations to ensure that the treatment being performed on the keg, as well as the keg itself, complies with the industry requirements. If such tests or examinations identify a defect in the keg or a malfunction of the apparatus or processing step performed at a treatment station, the keg must be separated out of the kegging facility's production flow. Such separation will be performed after discharge of the keg from the machines on the transport path which defines the production line by means of ejectors. The ejectors move a keg for which an abnormality has been identified from the production line onto an ejector conveyor without disturbing the automated production line. In the prior art, the ejector conveyors were dead-ended, i.e., the ejected kegs were simply moved to the side to await attention by an operator. The operator, when time permited, conducted tests to determine whether the keg was defective, and thus required repair, or whether the keg was ejected from the production line as a result of machine error or a malfunction at a treatment station. If the operator determined by visual inspection of the keg that the ejection was not as a result of a defective keg, the keg would be manually reinserted in the production line after being emptied if necessary. The inspection and rerouting of ejected kegs is a highly labor intensive process and, as bottling facility capacity increases, the number of personnel required for inspection and movement of ejected kegs increases.